NUTTALL, Thomas (1756-1859). A Journal of Travels into the Arkansas Territory, during the Year 1819. With Occasional Observations on the Manners of the Aborigines. Philadelphia: Thomas H. Palmer, 1821. 8vo., (9 x 5 6/8 inches). (Short tear to page 61 just touching the text, light browning throughout, a few pale dampstains towards the end). Folding engraved map by H. S. Tanner from notes by Nuttall (one or two spots, clean tear at fold), five uncolored aquatint plates (one or two loose). Original plain buff boards, printed paper label on the spine, uncut (spine chipped with loss, boards loose). Modern beige cloth slipcase and chemise. Provenance: Bookplate of Edwin Stanton Fickes on the front paste-down; The Frank T. Siebert Library of the North American Indian and the American Frontier. First edition of one of the principal early travel narratives of the Arkansas- Mississippi region. Nuttall, a British-born Philadelphian botanist and ornithologist, accompanied three major exploratory expeditions in order to further his knowledge of North American species. The "Journal" relates the second of these trips, carried out in 1818-20 in the company of Major Bradford, along the Arkansas and Red Rivers in Arkansas, Louisana, and Indian Territory. The work is important for the accuracy of Nuttall's scientific observations and for his attention to the culture of the native populations, notably the Chickasaw, Cherokee and Osage Indians. Two appendices are devoted to the Native Americans: the first relates the encounters of Ferdinand de Soto in 1539-1543 with the (soon to be extinct) native populations of the Mississippi region; the second provides a history of the Natchez tribe. A third appendix contains meteorological data. The aquatint plates illustrating local landmarks are unusual for an American book: this graphic technique enjoyed only a brief vogue here in the 1820's, before being supplanted by lithography. Howes N299; Field 1145; Sabin 56348; Graff 3055; Wagner-Camp 20.